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livinglot2017-01-08 09:07 pm
ringleaders) wrote in livinglot2017-01-08 09:07 pm
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⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #3
WELCOME TO THE SHOW!↴ Or, more specifically, Lost Carnival's test drive meme! This is an opportunity to try out your characters in the setting before you apply, or to put together samples for characters you've never played before. There are going to be options for both new arrivals and veteran characters. Before we get started, let's lay down some details:
NEW RECRUITS↴  You gotta start somewhere, right? These prompts are for characters who are arriving in the carnival for the first time, and who are destined to sign a contract. How they go about that is up to you, but in the meantime they can enjoy the sights and sounds of something truly out of this world. Visitors to the carnival comes from many different worlds today, as the ringmaster casts out her recruitment lures. Will you become her most recent hire? ► ADMISSION FEES: After crossing into the carnival's realm and passing through the trees, most visitors will find themselves at the front gate - though not all choose to enter that way. If they enter legitimately, however, they will have to pass by a clerk who will trade admission and tickets for various attractions and rides in exchange for "anything of value." What is of value may seem highly subjective, and so some may struggle to produce payment at first, though in actuality the carnival will take anything from mundane currency to items of purely sentimental value. ► MIRROR MAZE: The mirror maze (pictured above) is a big attraction in the carnival, and stretches much further on the inside than it looks like it will on the outside. It's hard to get through, and what's more, after you've been in there for a while your reflections will start gaining a mind of their own - mostly in order to taunt and distract you with personal information. They don't know everything you know, but they know more than they should, and their mind games can be pretty hit or miss. ► GAMER'S CIRCLE: Almost all of the game booths are organized in a large ring around the Cookhouse, called Gamer's Circle. Your can play just about any carnival game you can imagine here, for a variety of prizes sometimes traditional, exotic, or outright magical. Dart tossing? Got it. That game with the water guns? Got it. Most of these booths are currently manned by humanoid spirits who look like they are made of smoke. If they can trick you into earning debt, they will. ► NOT YOUR WHEELHOUSE: Sometimes, even magical ferris wheels get stuck. The carnival's particular wheel is enchanted to create a particular out of this world experience - as you pass along the top, you feel as if they are so close to the sky that you can interact with the stars like baubles hanging above your head. Of course, the novelty probably wears off when the wheel is broken and you've been stuck enjoying the light show with some stranger for the last half hour. How are you going to pass the time? ► TRYING TO LEAF: No matter where you came from, you seemingly emerged from a forest. Obviously, to get back home you should be able to go back in the same direction, right? It turns out you can't. Worse, trying too hard to get through the wood will result in you getting lost, or turned back to the carnival. The trees here are not normal, and are varying levels of alien, including things like trees with glowing fruit or orange flowers that constantly burn like candles. ► WILD CARD: Anything else you can imagine in this setting! There are a lot of possibilities and you're free to explore them. Check out the rest of the game info or the locations page for additional inspiration. Want to make a starter with your character experiencing their first theoretical change? Go for it! VETERAN WORKERS↴  These prompts are tailored to the carnival's existing employees, the veterans. Odds are they've been here from somewhere between a few months and three years already, and know their way around the block. For them, this is just business as usual - and depending on their attitude towards their job, they may or may not contribute to a few people accidentally getting themselves a contract. Whatever you do, though, don't warn visitors away from the carnival - the ringmaster hates losing business like that. ► DO YOUR WORK: This one's pretty simple - just have your character doing whatever you'd like to have their job be! There is a big list of ideas over here, and you could use this to try things out with a character you intend to be a new arrival, as well. ► WILL O' WISPS: The ringmaster's will o' wisps have gotten free, and she's asked that everyone keep and eye out and help her reclaim them regardless of their official jobs. Wisps are small creatures that burn both hot and cold and comes in a few different variations of the same basic theme. Handling them physically (or psionically, or magically, for that matter) is difficult due to their near intangible nature. Touching and being around them can result in confusion and a sensation similar to being comfortably drunk. ► BREAK TIME: Whatever you were doing, it's break time! It's time for you to relax however you see fit. Do you enjoy some of the carnival attractions yourself, or is that old by now? Do you hang out in the Cookhouse to get a snack? Do you take a nap? Yolo, baby! ► RIDDLE GAME: For a bit of fun, the ringmaster has left a variety of locked chests around the worker areas of the carnival, each with instructions and a riddle written on their lids. The chest will accept three guesses from each worker before refusing to respond to them any further. If you guess the right answer, the chest will open and you will be rewarded with some manner of fun magical knick knack. If you've run out of guesses, maybe you can conspire with someone else and promise to split the prize? ► CAPTURE THE... EGG?: The Ringmaster likes to keep things exciting for her employees, and this time she's devices a game that mixes an Easter egg hunt with capture the flag. She's hidden various metallic "eggs" around the carnival that chime like bells when people get near, and divided participants into three teams (red, blue, yellow of course.) The carnival has been divided into three zones, and the objective is to gather as many eggs as possible for your team (three points for gold, two for silver, one for copper.) However, when you are in a zone that doesn't belong to your team, if they can snatch off your team flag they can take you to "jail" and confiscate any eggs you may be holding for their team. When in doubt, bullshit the rules! This is a prompt, after all. ► WILD CARD: Anything else you can imagine in this setting! There are a lot of possibilities and you're free to explore them. Check out the rest of the game info or the locations page for additional inspiration. Want to do a performance? Hang out in the Backyard? Choose whatever appeals! |
he technically did a contract with her in mind first too.... sob....
[...But he can tell who she means by ‘him’, and doesn’t that just twist his heart?]
Ha no- not an angel. It’s just-
[A whistle of a breath scrapes inbetween his teeth as he fumbles for the words. Well. He guesses the explanation, in the end, is simple.]
Ya remember Mrs. Plundell? Lady who used ta come by for a spell, teach us our numbers and things like that? And she’d always warn us not ta go runnin’ off inta that forest that was nearby, or else the faerie queen would whisk us away? Well, ha…
[He adjusts himself, spreading his hand out with a helpless grin.]
Turns out I didn’t run into a queen, but…
Joker should be glad, clearly this place is WAY better than where she was at the end. 83
[She remembers Mrs. Plundell and her times tables and how Dagger never paid attention or tried to hide when she came over. Doll had liked the numbers, and she'd liked wondering what it would be like to be whisked away by a faerie queen.]
[Clearly it's like this-- you end up with wings and horns and different eyes, taking a load off in tree branches. Doll's eyebrows come together, trying to make sense of how Joker meeting a faerie connects to her dying and both of them ending up here. It doesn't seem to come together.]
But you were whisked away? [Doll tilts her head up at Joker and comes closer. He seems tense, is he going to let her near him?] How?
honestly, he can't even deny that bit
[Of course, it doesn’t help that when he’d stumbled upon the carnival for the first time, he’d been in… not the best of states. Head full of smoke, blood making his left side slick, mind not sure how he would survive when the only thing outside would likely still be that beast and its master since he’d taken off after them since there was only once exit…]
[Except then-]
I’d just opened a door in the manor and, next thing I know, I’m coming through a forest and upon a carnival. [He laughs, bright and cheery, hiding the truth beneath it.] Thought I was dreamin’ at first!
[Thought it was death throes, at first, and he didn’t stop thinking it for a couple of stops, if he’s honest.]
Got a little worried when I first got roped inta it all, but y’know what all the stories say about faeries and time… And anyway, that’s how I got here. I suppose I should ask how ya got here, but…
[Becoming a little more somber, he scratches the back of his neck and glances away.]
...I think I got a good guess on that.
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[Logic says she should trust the one who cares about her, looked after her, raised her-- and question the word of a boy she'd just met who lied to them all right out of the gate. But he'd seemed so tired, so resigned when he announced he'd killed everyone she loved. She had to wonder what the point of lying to her right then would be. Joker... he could be lying because he doesn't know she'd run into Smile and Black after the fact. He could be looking after her now, so she wouldn't be upset.]
[Well, too late for that. She'd already been plenty upset.]
[Maybe it's her turn to look after him, here. She might have given it away too soon, but maybe...]
What, you mean...? No, no! [She waves her hands as if that would make Joker forget all her talk of being damned and angels and whatnot.] I was waiting for you all to come back, and I fell asleep. When I woke up I was here and I wondered... if something had happened. I was right scared when everybody up and left, you know.
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[He’s going to have to learn it eventually. Soon, if he’s honest. But just… not now.]
[So there’s a pause, a short gap as he takes that in, and then Joker is shaking his head and holding his hand up with a laugh.]
No, no, I mean- It’s, ha, it’s sorta my fault that yer here. See… I might’ve made a deal. Ta get all our family outta England, safe and sound, away from the Yard and everythin' else.
[Not a lie.]
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Better now that I know you're here. [And isn't that the truth? Doll could be anywhere at all-- the circus or in the gutter-- as long as she had her family with her. Anything could be weathered.] But if you made a deal for all of us, where are they?
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[He thought he’d go years without seeing his family, more than he’s already had to deal with as it is. To already have brought one of his family here…]
I guess the owner of this place had somethin’ in mind.
[And boy isn’t he not pleased about it, although he has to reluctantly admit this might have been for the best.]
I guess because one of my first deals was makin’ sure ya would get out of England first.
no subject
Well, maybe now that there're two of us here, we can get the rest of them back even quicker-like!
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[He’s not saying Dagger would fuss about Beast, but Dagger would fuss about Beast.]
[At her next words, however, some of his teasing goes away, and there’s an unmistakeable look of worry in his eyes.]
Doll, it’s… it can be tricky, here. I mean, besides things like- [And he stretches his wings out, some of the feathers along the wingpits dotted with a soft purple glow.] -it can be… dangerous. This carnival, ha…. It goes ta a lot more places than England.
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[Alright, maybe he had a point. Still, she didn't feel good about it. Especially if everyone had been... killed, by Smile. She and Joker had to get all of them away and safe, no matter how long she had to work there. They will reunite their family, she's not going to stand around and wait.]
...So you want me to go sit here and just wait for you to come back? All by myself? What am I supposed to do if I'm not with you?
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Since…. That’s one of the first deals I made.
[Keep my family safe.]
Ya could do all sorts of things there- [A disbelieving laugh.] I got ta visit a place once where all the people were made a metal, for starters.
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[And he thinks she'd be happy like that? All alone?]
No. [She bores her one eye into Joker. If he wants Doll to do what he says, he's going to have to do a little more than just suggest she'd be better off away from him, and try to distract her with stories.]
no subject
[A humorless chuckle this time, matching the haunted look in his eyes that he can’t quite hide even as he ducks his head down with his fingers toying with the rest of his hair.]
I got real stubborn family, s’what I got.
[What else can he tell her? All the horrifying things- the vampires, the mess in the Matrix to try and scare her away? That would just make her more determined to stay, with him having to deal with it, wouldn’t it?]
[Dammit. He wishes the Ringmaster wouldn’t play these kind of games.]
...She makes folk sign a contract, the one in charge does. For every debt ya have, ya have ta work for a year ta pay it. That can be anywhere from, ah… nine ta eleven stops. Some of ‘em are dangeorus, if yer not careful.
And when ya stay, well.. [Reaching up, he flicks one long ear, and the many earrings on it jingle against one aother.] Ya change. Usually it’s just small things- eyes change color, ya lose yer shadow, things like that.
[And his, notably, if she cares to look, isn’t at all in sync with what he’s doing, and is instead fidgeting something terrible.]
But…. sometimes they change ya a lot more. And, well, I’ve heard folks say that ya turn back ta human when ya finish and get home, or wherever ya want ta be, but I can’t say that for sure.
[After all, he has a long ways to work.]
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I ain' goin' back to where I was when you found me-- worse than hungry and sick, alone. And shunned. You think anywhere I go will be better, Joker? [Teeth grit, Doll combs her bangs back and away from her face. At least the rest of them could get Doc's fancy limbs, Doll... her face was her face. It would be with her wherever she went.]
I don't care if it's dangerous or if I go half tiger, I'm staying. And not because I'm stubborn but because your family loves you! And you... they've, been the only ones to love me. Even like this.
[She lets her hair cover her face again. Even when she's making a point, it's uncomfortable for her to have it uncovered for longer than a minute.]
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[He doesn't say how he'd startle at his own hand back in the early days, robbed of even a little bit of flesh for him to touch his loved ones proper and trying not to think about it. It'd been easier when he had been half out of his own head, not really believing that he was actually still alive, but then he'd gotten that kick to the reality of the carnival, and his arm had seemed so glaring when he'd looked at it. Still does, and for all the little things- how he can't toy with his hair without strand catching in wood, his inability to snap his fingers again.]
[He doesn't say how his ears had been one of the first things to change, and he'd tried to ignore them for a while- not the worst, right? Surely not the worst, and he'd used to practice in his head, late at night, how he would play it off when he saw his family again- ha ha, look, now he'd be able to wear even more earrings, and it'd be a joke, something to ignore-]
[He doesn't say that the first time he'd looked into the mirror and seen those eyes staring back, he'd wanted to vomit, because now he was like that, because he was getting farther and farther from his family, and maybe one day he'd finally finish up all his damned contracts but it would mean just a little less because what if they didn't even recognize him anymore- ]
[(He'd gotten drunk, then, never really a drinker because he knows how he gets, but god had he hidden away in his trailer then when his roommate had stayed otu a little later at the cookhouse and drunk himself into near a coma, and he's only glad that he could lie enough that no one really thought much of it.)]
[But Joker doesn't say any of that. He only keeps his head bowed as she yells at him, fingers still curled at his neck, and waits for the quiet.]
[Then, and only then, does he finally start to step forward, reaching forward to tug her close. Without thinking twice, his wings shift to fold around her as well- a replacement for the right arm he doesn't have.]
Oh, Doll...
[He can't look at her, not really, trying to press his face into her hair, but there's cracks in his voice that show so many emotion, they're tangled up in each other, impossible to tell apart.]
The only ones who wouldn't love ya are bleedin' daft. S'the truth.
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[She digs her nose into Joker's chest, squeezing him hard as though he'd understand through osmosis.]
You've always wanted to protect me, you all have, Joker. But please. Please. I can't live without all of us, I don't know how to anymore, I can't--
[The rest of the explanation is blocked by a lump in her throat and she can't speak anymore.]
I'll do whatever you want me to do, I promise, if you just... let me stay here. With you.
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[Doll suffering now goes against everything he’s tried to do, and, when he breathes in, it feels like his very lungs are rattling. He doesn’t want her here…. But he doesn’t want to break her heart. Not anymore than it’s already been broken with the kind of things they’ve had to do.]
….Make a deal with her ta learn some fae magic. Somethin’ ta protect ya somehow, or get ya out of a tight spot. Promise ta make that yer first contract before anythin’ else.
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[Fortunately, she doesn't have to contemplate that for too long. He says something that isn't 'No, you have to go', and for a moment she's thrilled. Doll looks up at Joker, smiling through the tears that were threatening to end up rubbed into Joker's shirt-- but then she parses what he says.]
But... what about everybody else?
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What do ya think I’ve been doin’ here? Like I said- I already got a deal that they’ll be safe. Now I just gotta work on gettin’ everyone outta England. It’ll take a while even if we’re both here, so just… protect yerself first.
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Alright then, I promise I'll take care of me-- if it'll make y'feel better Joker.
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[Something is better than nothing and, well, he guesses if she has to be here… Better where he can keep an eye on her. He lets out a breath.]
Then… let’s get ya back inside, I guess. And ya can talk with the Ringmaster.
no subject
[She doesn't believe that loving Joker and refusing to do what he says have to be mutually exclusive, especially when his own safety and maybe mental-wellbeing is at stake. But at the same time, she can't pretend that Joker's motivations aren't the same as hers. She can't believe that Joker caring about her and wanting her far, far away doesn't make any sense-- because it probably makes perfect sense. Joker was always the smart one, after all, but she might have the biggest heart and the will to believe that things would work out in the end no matter what. Even after everything that had happened with Smile and Black, apparently...]
[But she's not going to think too hard about that. Joker needs to see her safe and smiling, not contemplating if she really can stay optimistic when she's facing the realities of betrayal and lies while walking into something completely unknown. She won't let him regret giving her his, admittedly, begrudging blessing to stay. Doll reaches out to take his hand.] You'll come with me, right?